JFK 50 Miler

Dec 3rd, 2010 - Having Fun - Tewksbury, MA - 3.1

Day 337 - One of my goals for 2011 is to help my parents lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle. They recently sold their home and moved into something a little bit more manageable, which means more time to sit on the couch.

Not anymore.

My mom has really been motivated to get back into shape after seeing me lose 20 lbs over the past year from my running. She is willing to work at it knowing the benefits, especially as she gets older. She's already running two miles every other night on the treadmill, and she even ran some GT5K races with me a couple of years ago. This was all before she suffered a set back with shin splits. A case of too much, too soon.

Her goal for 2011 is to run an ultra with me. I'll have to talk to her about that one.

My dad (and I'm not referring to Fil) is a different story.

You see, my dad is not the running type, or walking type, or moving type. He'll come home from work every night, eat dinner, and sit at the computer. Not healthy.

My dad's never been below 200lbs in all of the years that I've known him, and that's 30 years! He doesn't have past injuries or conditions that would prevent him from exercising, so he doesn't have any excuse to not get out there, even if it's just to walk a mile every day.

His frame is definitely not suited for 200lbs over a long period of time, so it's getting to the point where he needs to change or suffer the effects of a sedentary lifestyle, like too much day time television.

It'll take a little more work to get my dad moving, but it's just about pushing the right button, even if that button is on his belly.